Thursday, December 20, 2012

20) The Four Seasons Recomposed - Max Richter (TOP 20 OF 2012)

Vivaldi - The Four
Seasons | Recomposed

Max Richter

Deutsche Grammophon.

SCQ Rating: 81%

While this
note-by-note rewriting of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons likely won’t unearth throes of
listeners wondering about Vivaldi – you know a score is already ingrained in
Western culture when about half of the rich villains in action movies have
hired a tuxedo-dressed quartet to perform it – but this disc should shed fresh
light on ambient-storyteller Max Richter. Like modern day Vivaldi lovers,
Richter’s following is quietly dedicated and sure to notice how his interpretation invokes the same emotional clairvoyance that adorns his post-classical catalog. Although
any surfacing revelations should be accredited more to Vivaldi than to Richter,
this terse reworking finds The Four Seasons’ beauty feeling sharper and more
resplendent than ever.